About Us

The Housing Authority of the City of Atlanta, Georgia (AHA) is the largest housing authority in Georgia and one of the largest in the nation. AHA provides and facilitates affordable housing resources for nearly 22,000 low-income households comprised of approximately 50,000 people. These affordable housing resources include AHA-owned residential communities, AHA-sponsored mixed-income, mixed-finance residential communities, tenant-based vouchers, project based rental assistance, supportive housing arrangements and homeownership opportunities.

AHA has broad corporate powers including, but not limited to, the power to acquire, manage, own, operate, develop and revitalize affordable housing. AHA’s programs are funded and regulated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”). Using its Moving to Work flexibility, AHA has implemented a variety of innovations that benefit low-income families and expand housing choice.

AHA’s approach to providing quality affordable housing and human development services is based on the belief that people can do better when given access to quality living environments and the tools they need to become self-sufficient.

Mission

Provide quality affordable housing in amenity-rich, mixed-income communities for the betterment of the community

Vision

Healthy Mixed-Income Communities; Healthy Self-Sufficient Families

AHA’s Goals

Self-sufficiency – opportunities for AHA-assisted families and individuals to acquire the skills and resources they need to become financially independent; initiatives and strategies that support great educational outcomes for children; and programming that supports independent living among the elderly and persons with disabilities

AHA’s Guiding Principles

Ending the practice of concentrating low-income families in distressed and isolated neighborhoods

Establishing healthy mixed-use, mixed-income communities using a comprehensive approach to ensure long-term market competitiveness and sustainability and to support excellent outcomes for families, with emphasis on high-performing neighborhood schools and quality-of-life amenities

Creating mixed-use communities that have a seamlessly-integrated affordable residential component

Leveraging partnerships and using public and private resources, private sector knowledge and real estate market principles to develop communities

Supporting AHA-assisted families with strategies and programs that help them establish and achieve life goals

AHA Leadership

Board of Commissioners

The Atlanta Housing Authority is governed by a seven-member board of commissioners. The board is responsible for policy, fiscal management, and the appointment of the agency’s president and chief executive officer.

Senior Leadership Team

In addition to the AHA Board of Commissioners, the agency relies upon the leadership of a team of its senior-level executives to provide thought leadership, accountability, and insight regarding its day-to-day operations, as well as perspective on participant services and programming.

Moving to Work (MTW)

In 1996, Congress created the Moving to Work Demonstration Program, which authorized the Secretary of HUD to negotiate agreements with a select number of high-performing public housing agencies for the purpose of demonstrating how regulatory and statutory relief, flexibility and innovation could lead to better outcomes for low-income families and the broader community. In 2001, HUD selected AHA to participate in the demonstration program. AHA entered into its first MTW agreement in 2003, which was later extended through 2018.

Obtaining MTW status has allowed AHA to continue implementing its long-term strategy of mainstreaming families, mainstreaming real estate, and mainstreaming AHA as a viable and sustainable organization. Using its MTW flexibility, AHA employs local strategies and solutions to advance human development initiatives and use public/private partnerships to revitalize communities.

AHA’s MTW Agreement has enabled AHA to leverage lessons learned and best practices, apply private sector business principles to implement local solutions that increase the availability of quality affordable housing, promote human development and economic self-sufficiency strategies aimed at improving the lives of low-income families, and optimize AHA’s effectiveness in achieving its goals. The funding flexibility provided AHA under the MTW Agreement is essential to AHA’s continued success and long-term financial viability.